How Can Our Minds Be So Powerful?

How Can Our Minds Be So Powerful?

Written By: Shaun Smith- Absolute Mental Training

Have you ever been sitting before a game and got that feeling that this is not going to be a good game? How often did these feelings come true? For most goalies and athletes for that matter these thoughts of failing or having a bad game become true. One example that I can think of when I played was in I was younger. Before a game against a particular team I told my teammates that this was the team that had hurt me at the starting of the season. Thoughts began to run through my head of getting hurt again and sure enough late in the first period a guy was tripped and fell into me and I hurt my knee.

So why does this happen? Why does a simple thought lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy? How can our minds be so powerful that we can determine the outcome of a game through our minds?

Many of us would like to be able to believe that training on the ice through repetition is what makes great goalies great and it can’t hurt. The ability to complete any given skill without thinking because of the muscle memory which is formed when we work on new skills is amazing. Yet, no matter how many repetitions of any given skill you complete in practice there is one thing that can break that cycle of movements. Your mind. Your mind is able to delay that reaction or all together make you forget that skill which you have been working on.

The mind is powerful beyond measures. The truth is that every movement, every reaction and every save that we need to make within a game must first be interpreted within our mind before the resulting action is completed. Think about the save process for a moment. You see that a player has just released the shot. By using your eyes you are able to tell where exactly that puck is headed (say glove hand). It is then up to your brain to tell the muscles in your glove hand and arm that it is time to move and in what direction to make the save possible. But if your mind has to be interrupted from the negative thoughts which you are having or if your mind believes that you should be a second slow because you are fighting the puck then the resulting action will not occur in time because we only have a fraction of a second to make the appropriate reaction to what we see.  

This is why negative thoughts before and during the game often always come true and why many goaltenders although great in practice fail to perform in games. As goaltenders then we need to work on improving our game through working on the mental side of the game so that we can be powerful beyond measures and there is no better time than today. Mental training is then not for the sick but for those who want to be the best.

The mind is the master of the body. Like it or not this is true. No matter what physically you think you can do because of brute strength we are limited by our minds. If we train and discipline our minds though, the body will follow. Once the body and mind become focused and in tune, you will see that your game will seem to flow; like you are in the zone. In other words, you will not be fighting with yourself and good things will just seem to happen for you.

Shaun Smith is the founder of Absolute Mental Training. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email him at ssmith@absolutementaltraining.com!